Fair Use of Monsters
The Fair Use doctrine in Copyright law got a bit of an expansion last week in Warren Publishing Co. v. Spurlock, a decision from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Photos of artwork used in a biography of the artist is fair use.
The dispute was not between the book publisher and the artist, but instead, between the published of several now defunct monster movie magazines and the publisher of the book, Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos. Apparently the work of Gogos has appeared on more than 50 magazine covers. Photos of some of those magazine covers were included in the book about Gogos.
The Court ruled the use of the paintings was transformative, as the book was a biography and retrospective of the artist’s work, a goal very different from that of the magazines.
The Court did not rule on whether Gogos had assigned his copyright to Warren Publishing. If the dispute had been between the artist and his biographer, one wonders whether the outcome might be different?
Hat tip to Law.com.
P.S. As a writer, I’ve always had an interest in copyright law. Since I am now in a firm where IP is something of a strength, I am paying more attention than ever. Hence, the new category.
